


In Another Life

by IAmWhelmed, stephasaurus



Category: Batman (Comics), Super Sons (Comics)
Genre: Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:48:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26291407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmWhelmed/pseuds/IAmWhelmed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephasaurus/pseuds/stephasaurus
Summary: It all started when Cain lost to Jon, in the big game of love. But moping around his penthouse in Gotham City was going to be the least of his problems; when he arrived at the manor, his best friend, his sister, his home, had met her demise, at her own hand.[you do not need to know the DC Comics to read this story :)]
Relationships: Damian Wayne & Original Male Character(s), Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

The air’s light and foggy, grass displayed on the field with water droplets, proving it rained. Cain walked outside, he was wearing his horse riding uniform, and he had no idea why-- but since he’s already got it on, he decides to take advantage and jumps on a horse with a beige tone body, and a chestnut mane. The chilly air gave this morning a certain serene atmosphere--not raining but no sun shining either.

Cain positions himself on thee horse trying to get comfortable and in the best position to ride. The horse starts to trollope without command, Cain tries to stop the horse to no avail and gets utterly perplexed by the route the horse decides to take, the path to the creek. He knows that spot. Something happened there, he can’t quite place a finger on it, but he continues anyway, riding along the creek’s crystal waters. But further along the line, the water isn’t so clear, in fact it’s poisoned with the unmistakable, vivid tinge, of thick red. The horse goes faster, and the water becomes a nightmare.

The forest turns into a jungle, he's trying to dodge the plantation while the horse is flying through at lightning speed. Cain sees a girl, 17 at most, and jumps off the fast horse, rolling in the drying mud, as the horse stampedes and doesn’t stop. The fog is too opaque to see who the girl is, but it does show the shadow, he can see what the girl is doing.

“Stop!” Cain yells into the empty abyss, the abyss of the world. His voice is drowned out by the terrors of what the girl has just done, a blade to her chest, pushing, slipping the dagger straight into her delicate heart. Cain runs over to the girl only to find the one thing that petrifies him more than anything-- his sister, suffering.

Abele lay in the cold water, flesh beginning to reach that same temperature. Her eyes have been clouded with the loss of life, but the tears that rained from her soul are still apparent. She wears a cream dress with the sickening stain of old red, and the heart breaking seep of new red, that's drowning the cream color, the dress once was. She holds the old white rose, painted scarlet. He falls, holds his sister in his arms and watches as a salty tear splashes against her cheek; but with one rain drop comes a dozen, and this time he is not the only one weeping. The world itself weeps alongside him.

Cain woke up in his bed, white sheets lay messily upon the bed. His body was shaking, his eyes glossy and his lips trembling with pure terror. _That was just a dream, right?_ When he went back to London, everything would be fine. His sister would be alive and well, hugging him and telling him he was a fool... right? 

The plane ride was excruciatingly long, the first class seating was as basic as it always was-- it was quiet, and all it did was remind him that without Abele the whole Manor would be quiet. His mind was firing neurons faster than he could process, crossing his fingers and his toes that he’d see Abele’s smiling face again. He could hold her tight, give her a hug, a hug he hadn’t given in years, a protective one, the kind that made her feel safe and loved.

He landed at the London Airport and waited to be picked up in his limo. The driver, usually a bubbly fellow, was now silent. It was unnerving. The seats felt a little colder that day, the air felt a little mucky as well. The ride to the Barnett Family Estate was also nerve racking, there was an uncertainty in the atmosphere, like he'd missed out on some big event. He prayed that it wouldn't be what he feared.

They pulled into the driveway, Cain saw all of the sculptures the property has always had, ever since he was a little boy, the statue of Aphrodite the Goddess of Beauty and Love, meant to grace this house with those gifts; as well as the other Greek God sculpture around the Manor. Cain saw the fountain standing in the middle of the drive way pink petals and yellow tulips swimming through the water. And standing next to the fountain, Cain saw his parents. Their faces concerned him in an overwhelming way. His father usually so attentive, always watching for who or what could leap out of the shadows, now clouded with shock. Cain’s mother looked devastated, hair always perfect, and to the normal eye it was-- but Cain had known his mother his entire life; to him her hair is disheveled, unattained, unlike it usually is.

“Mother, Father, what’s wrong? Where’s Abele?” Once he asked that question, his mother covered her mouth and started sobbing. Clinging onto his father’s arm, eyes squeezed shut, like if she opened them, the world would fall apart. His father looked him dead in the eyes and said:

“I’m sorry, son..”

Cain dropped his bag and fell to his knees, staring at the ground, bright green eyes turning darker by the second. He was losing his grasp. It felt like he was falling off a cliff, holding onto a branch, and all of a sudden the branch snapped-- and Cain started to fall into the dark, blank, empty, space of uselessness, guilt, depression, and villainy. He just wanted the sunshine, but Miss Sunshine has passed, and the night was cold, and the night was long.

~~~~~~~~  
3 weeks later...  
~~~~~~~~

The next few weeks seemed to be an utter blur. Maybe because summer transitioned into fall-- or maybe it was because he had just lost the most important person in his life.

He does, however, remember the funeral. The old fashioned church building, stained glass; Abele’s coffin is made of the rarest wood on Earth, African Black wood. Abele lay on the silk inside of the wooden box; she wore a musky, light green dress, hair down but placed perfectly to frame her face, her limp hands held a white rose across her chest-- unlike the one she passed away with, this one was not dipped in liquid ruby-- it was plain, pure white like the wings of an angel, soaring up i’ve the clouds. Cain wishes he could see those green eyes, once more; she looks so innocent laying there, if it was your first time glancing upon her sweet sugary face-- you would never know of the whole in heart. The entire church is decorated with light green hydrangeas. He recalls that Abele always liked those flowers, their meaning was... touching to her, and he never knew why. He always thought, one day, that she’d tell him. I guess it’s a little too late now.

The guests file in, wearing their finest black attire, a speech is given by the pastor, which Cain finds surprising. The man had never met Abele, and yet he gets to tell her story. It doesn't make any sense, and yet, none of this did. Why would Abele do such a thing? Was it the same as last time? Did she feel so unnervingly worthless that she found herself walking alone through the world, hopeless, while he wasn’t there to protect her, like all the times before? This isn't fair...

“Our Father who art in Heaven...”

_She didn’t deserve to die..._

“Hallowed be thy name...”

_She didn’t deserve to have her life stripped away..._

“Your Kingdom come, thy will be done...”

_I should’ve been there..._

“on Earth as it is, in Heaven..”

_I’m her brother, I'm supposed to protect her..._

“Give us this day, our daily bread...”

_She fought against herself..._

“And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors..”

_She fought alone..._

“And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one...”

_She succumbed to the darkness..._

“For the Kingdom and the power and the glory, are yours forever...”

_...the darkness won..._

“Amen..”

_... and I was 3,000 miles away, mourning the loss of something that was never truly mine, to begin with._


	2. Secrets Only Dead Can Keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How can you mend a family, that’s falling apart?

The day was beautiful, sun shining just through the clouds, begging to hold onto summer just a bit while longer; but the crisp in the air bit Cain back into reality. The reality he wished never existed in this world or the next. For that morning, the birds didn’t even chirp, nor did the mice squeak-- it was formidable. 

Besides Abele’s shy demeanor, she brought the warmth to the Manor. She was a girl of few words, but it was her presence that brought the timid out of the shells; without her, the normally talkative walls had fallen still, and wordless. 

The plantation deteriorated around him with no Persephone to bring them back to life. The leaves burned into shades of golden, red, and became breakable underneath the weight of those who walked upon them. The serenity would have been comforting, if he was not wallowing in guilt and shame.  _What could you have done?_

Anything. Anything at all. 

Cain wiped away the tear that fell from his peridot eyes. It’s true what they say-- one event can change your life forever; big or small. But what was this? A movie? A movie where the main character has to suffer throughout all of it; but this time, there was no happy ending, because he couldn't ever get his little sister back. 

No matter how many wishes. How many pleads, when he wakes up the next morning-- his sister won’t be there to greet him, dressed to the nines-- except dressing to the nines is normal for her, just an average day. 

Cain took a walk through the garden, yellow and pink tulips line the entirety of it, withering away. Most of the plants were starting to seize into the dark, but one plant still remained, not cracking under the pressure of the cold. In the middle of the garden there was a tribute to Abele. Usually, white roses were used when someone died, so it isn’t odd that they were used; but in Abele’s case, the white rose was held at the scene of her death. Everyone who ever knew her put a single white rose into the center of the garden, where the grass was greener than an emerald, and softer than clouds. 

When Cain reached the center of the garden, upon the white roses lay something familiar-- chilling to the bone, quite a shock, one that makes you rub your eyes, blink a few times to make sure, you're not going crazy. Well this was insanity, because laying on the white roses lay his sister, in white, a laced victorian dress. Hair ringlets and all, never a curl out of place, just like how she was before. But laying there, Abele didn’t look like a ghost, she didn’t look like a figment of imagination; she was there. 

Cain walked over to his sister, standing just outside the circle of roses. “Abele?” He asked, desperation in his voice, pleading that what he saw was true, that lying before him was the person he’d been grieving for weeks. 

She looked up, seeing her brother, and without missing a beat, replied immediately, “You sure took your time. Now come, I’ve been waiting for hours.” 

Cain reluctantly walked over to his sister. But he didn’t hesitate to sit down next to her. Abele was home, and home was wherever Abele was, so excuse him for feeling safe by his sister's side. 

“You-- you’re alive?” Cain choked out, confusion plastered on his face like a bandaid. 

“Of course I am, silly.” She smiled and laid back down. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

—————————

“Gertrude, darling, please. Take it easy on the wine, my love, it ‘tis only 4.” Aiden Barnett, the husband of Gertrude, and the father of his two children Abe—

Father of his only child. Cain. 

“You didn’t have a problem beforehand.” Gertrude said coldly, gulping down the rest of her drink and placing it on a side table where one of the maids took it, immediately. 

“Things are different now, darling.” 

“Oh, really?” She said in a sarcastic voice, “I hadn’t realized. I mean it’s not just like I lost my only daughter.”

“I didn’t mean it like tha—“ He tried,

“No. I’m sure you didn’t.” Gertrude got the last word in before leaving the living room. 

Passing all the plants, and hallways filled with family portraits, some of people she did not know. She only stopped when she got to a specific portrait, with a table. It was a foot wide, and three feet long, and had three drawers. Gertrude stared at the portrait; it was of her lovely children. The sun and the moon, opposites but still had an unbreakable bond. Gertrude released a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and inhaled just as fast as she let out. She opened the left drawer and took out a bottle of pills. She took the white cylinder, swallowed it dry and sat on a plush bench that was a mere 10 steps away. 

————————

“I don’t believe it.” Cain told his sister. “No, I actually don’t believe you. You can’t be alive.” 

“Did you actually see me die?” She challenged, looking into her brother's eyes. They shared those vivid green eyes, but for some unknown reason, Abele’s always seemed scarier.

“In a dream.” He told her honestly. “And when I came back, they said you had died the exact same way I saw. 

“Huh,” she closed her eyes. “What a strange, coincidence.” 

“It’s not a coincidence Abele, you died— I mean you are dead.” He huffed, closing his eyes and feeling them sting. He could feel the irritation under his eyes from crying, as well as the purple bags, from sleepless nights. 

“Why, did you huff like that? Makes you sound like you have an unbearable weight on your shoulders.”

“What if I do?” He asked, staring at his sister's face, not an imperfection in sight. 

“Then you shouldn’t hesitate to confide in your sister. Who better than the person whom you’re stuck with forever?” She hadn’t opened her eyes at all, she was just laying in roses, arms at her side, and clouds above her head. 

“I feel.. guilty, Abele.” He answered honestly. 

“How so?”

“I should’ve been there. To save you, I shouldn’t have delayed my plane ride, wallowing in self pity, it’s like you always say, selfishness is the death of others. And the one time I choose to make a selfish decision, it backfires, and I lose the most important thing in my life.” 

“You feel guilty?” She asked, as the stems from the roses start to grow and wrap around her hands, tightening like a lasso, but this won’t make Abele tell the truth, maybe nothing will. Cain didn't see that though, he was too busy staring up at the sky, watching the clouds. 

“Yes. I wasn’t there when you needed me the most.” He sighed, the rose vines still crawling their way over Abele’s body, now wrapping around her waist, like a corset, and round her head, like a flower crown which lacked the flowers. “I wish I could go back and save you, wish I was there to comfort you, so you would have never thought about doing that in the first place.”

With Abele’s legs, arms, and torso covered, leaving only her face left, and losing no time at all to submerge it in green, Cain looked over. 

“Abele!” He moved frantically to help her, ripping at the vines, but every time he pulled them off her, like a weed, they grew more and they grew faster. Abele started to choke, couldn't fill her lungs with ever-so-needed air. Cain tried to rip the vines from her face, and he pulled and pulled, but they were stuck on her with the strength of steel. She was gone. 

The vines had stopped, and a single, red rose grew, right where her heart was. The body was limp, covered in vines and Cain, again, had watched helplessly as his sister died. Cain stared at the lump of green, then made the ultimate decision to run-- just run to the manor. 

_Run? Is this what you do now? Run away from your problems? Pathetic._

He stepped inside, ignoring all the maids and housekeepers asking him where he had been. He ran to Abele’s room and looked at himself through her vanity mirror. He was breaking apart. He sobbed quietly. Leaning down on his hands that rested on the attached table. He sobbed in his arms, knees wobbling, but disregarded the chair. In fact, he paid the chair no attention at all.

———————

Aiden had watched his son run into his late daughter’s room. He walked over to the cream colored door and knocked. 

“Cain?” He waited for an answer, “Son, are you alright?” 

He didn’t get an answer, he did, however, hear a small sob undoubtedly escape his son’s lips. His family was breaking, crumbling, cracking, and all he could do was watch idly. He looked at the door in remorse of not paying close enough attention to his daughter, and concern for how his son was doing. 

———————

A couple hours passed, and Cain had fallen asleep on his sister's bed. Tears stained his cheeks, and tightened them in a way that he felt, but it didn’t feel very different. 

He was barely sleeping when a noise of a sudden drop woke him up from his 100 minutes of sleep. He looked around the bedroom, eyes stopping when he faintly saw his sister sitting at her vanity, tying her hair up into a tight bun. She looked at her brother through the mirror. She smiled sweetly and continued on her hair, leaving her brother, once again, completely stunned.


End file.
